Mata: We will make Rostov pay for our frustration
UNITED’S fury can explode against Rostov in the Europa League following the Reds’ disappointing Premier League draw against Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
Juan Mata has bemoaned the feeling of ‘here we go again’ after dropping two home points for the eighth time this season.
But the Spanish midfielder wants to hit back in Russia on Thursday – and against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup quarter-final next Monday.
“All of us felt very frustrated after the draw against Bournemouth on Saturday, it’s the same feeling that we had a few months ago after some similar games at Old Trafford,” Mata said.
“Unfortunately, we have that sense of déjà vu again. We played good football, we created chances, but yet again we weren’t efficient enough to turn that into a better score.
“We let two points slip away and all we can do now is to look ahead because we are facing many challenges in just a few days.
“As I always say, the good thing is that soon after a defeat you have an opportunity to make it up. Football doesn’t stop and it always gives you another chance to release your rage doing what you like most.
“First of all we have the Europa League tie against Rostov, including a long trip, that is going to test the strength of the team in every sense.
“The Russian side is particularly strong at home. This season they have defeated Bayern Munich and Ajax, for instance. That gives you an idea of how tough they are. And four days later we will play. We will need to play a great game if we want to celebrate back-to-back FA Cup titles at Wembley.” DENIS Irwin believes that Jose Mourinho will have to take some risks if United are to complete a cup treble and make the Premier League top four this season.
Irwin experienced a 63-game marathon in the memorable 199899 clean sweep campaign when Sir Alex Ferguson’s Reds won the title, FA Cup and Champions League.
Mourinho’s United have already played 44 matches this season and face a potential 66-match campaign if they go all the way to Wembley in the FA Cup and Stockholm in the Europe League.
The Reds have two league fixtures against City and Southampton away to shoehorn into their crammed schedule.
But Irwin says Mourinho is the key.
“You’d love to play every game but I think that’s almost impossible, particularly for the front players who need to be at their sharpest,” says the former United left-back.
“That’s down to the manager, when he wants to freshen it up. Certainly in ‘99, Sir Alex freshened it up quite a bit. I remember a semifinal replay against Arsenal where he rested quite a few.
“You have to take a risk somewhere along the line but that’s down to the manager.
“We’ve got a fine squad and we’ll have to see what happens. When you get momentum it’s a very strong leverage for us to have.
“I remember in 1999 we just kept playing and got on a run but I never thought it would end up like it did.
“I don’t think that at any point I thought it was manageable because of the amount of games we had. I don’t like the phrase but you take each game as it comes and see how it works out. “There’s Rostov and Chelsea away and it’s a daunting schedule, a lot of travelling in there. It wasn’t the ideal draw for us to go to Russia, but you’ve just got to go with it. “You’ve seen from previous games how strong a team Jose played in St Etienne, even though we were 3-0 up. The manager looks like he’s desperate to win as many trophies as possible. “But I think the manager will utilise as many players as possible. “It always helps that you’ve got two men to every position, great that there hasn’t been that many injuries. “You’re going to get suspensions, you’re going to pick up injuries, that’s going to happen. “You just hope as many of the squad stay as injury-free as possible.” Denis Irwin